Following the events of September 11, 2001, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reviewed the emergency preparedness basis for commercial Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) to assess whether the program could adequately address hostile action contingencies (e.g., terrorist attacks), given the programmatic basis on accidental releases. The NRC determined that potential radiological exposure to the public during a hostile action based (HAB) incident is no more severe than in other accident sequences considered in the radiological emergency preparedness basis. However, the NRC and FEMA recognized that HAB incidents could present unique challenges to emergency preparedness programs because they differ from the accident-initiated incidents for which licensees and Offsite Response Organizations (ORO) typically plan, train and exercise.

The Department of Homeland Security is under investigation for purchasing large stockpiles of ammunition, days before legislation was introduced that would restrict the amount a government agency can legally buy.

The Government Accountability Office is now conducting the investigation into the alleged DHS purchases, which is “just getting underway,” GAO spokesman Chuck Young told US News & World Report.

DHS officials have repeatedly denied stockpiling ammunition, but AP reports claim that the agency plans to buy more than 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition over the next four or five years, and has already bought 360,000 rounds of hollow point bullets and 1.5 billion rounds in 2012.

DHS claims that it is buying ammo in bulk to save money, but experts have pointed out that hollow point bullets cost nearly twice as much as full metal jacket rounds. They also explode on impact for maximum damage, which has caused some Americans to wonder what purpose they would serve the DHS domestically. Purchasing 1.6 billion rounds of ammo would also give DHS the means to fight the equivalent of a 24-year Iraq War. Members of Congress say the DHS has repeatedly refused to tell them the purpose of procuring such large amounts of ammo.

Online rumors about a big government munitions purchase are true, sort of.

The Homeland Security Department wants to buy more than 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition in the next four or five years. It says it needs them — roughly the equivalent of five bullets for every person in the United States — for law enforcement agents in training and on duty.

Published federal notices about the ammo buy have agitated conspiracy theorists since the fall. That’s when conservative radio host Alex Jones spoke of an “arms race against the American people” and said the government was “gearing up for total collapse, they’re gearing up for huge wars.”